How to improve your biomarkers

Written by Steve Fayzulayev. Clinically reviewed by Naomi Fayzulayev, FNP-C, MSN.

Last reviewed 2026-11-09. See our editorial policy and methodology.

Knowing a number is not the same as changing it. These guides rank interventions by leverage, say how long each takes to show up, and are explicit about what does not work.

Each one covers a single marker, because interpretation and appropriate next steps differ. Homocysteine and vitamin D are context only and do not affect the score.

See which markers to prioritise →
Lower ApoB
An ApoB result is one part of a cardiovascular risk discussion. Feeds atherogenic age.
Lower hs-CRP
hs-CRP is a nonspecific signal of inflammation. Feeds inflammatory age.
Lower fasting insulin
Fasting insulin is one assessment input, not a diagnosis of insulin resistance. Feeds metabolic age.
Raise VO₂ max
VO₂ max improves reliably with training, and the structure matters more than the effort. Feeds structural age.
Improve HRV
HRV is a recovery signal, so it improves when load falls or capacity rises — never by targeting the number itself. Feeds cognitive age.
Lower blood pressure
Blood pressure is the fastest-responding marker on the vascular dial and carries the most weight in it. Feeds vascular age.
Lower HbA1c
HbA1c reflects average glucose over approximately three months. Feeds metabolic age.
Lower homocysteine
Homocysteine can be influenced by vitamin status, kidney function, medicines and other factors. Context only; explore the inflammatory age.
Lower triglycerides
Triglycerides are the most responsive lipid on the panel and among the most responsive markers of any kind. Feeds atherogenic age.
Lower fasting glucose
Fasting glucose is defended hard by the body, which makes it a late signal: it stays near-normal until the compensation keeping it there is substantially spent. Feeds metabolic age.
Raise testosterone
Most of what is sold for this does nothing. Feeds hormonal age.
Improve sleep
Sleep is upstream of most of the other dials. Feeds cognitive age.
Raise vitamin D
Vitamin D supports bone health, but both low and high levels can matter. Context only; explore the cognitive age.
Raise grip strength
Grip strength predicts mortality and disability better than most laboratory markers, which makes it tempting to train the grip itself. Feeds structural age.
Lower resting heart rate
Resting heart rate falls for two quite different reasons — a stronger heart that moves more blood per beat, and a calmer autonomic state. Feeds vascular age.
Raise omega-3 index
This is one of the few markers almost entirely determined by intake, which makes it unusually straightforward: unlike most biology, you can simply move it. Feeds cognitive age.
Lower uric acid
Most advice about uric acid is written for gout, which is a crystal-formation problem at much higher levels. Feeds inflammatory age.
Lower ALT
A mildly raised ALT in someone who is otherwise well is most often fatty liver, and fatty liver is one of the more reversible conditions in medicine. Feeds organ age.
Lower GGT
GGT is usually treated as an alcohol marker and it is a good one — but its association with cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes holds in people who do not drink at all. Feeds organ age.

Where to start

If you have not scored yourself yet, start there — the dial carrying the most weight for you is rarely the one you expected. The calculator is free and the weighting is published.

If you already know your weak dial, the dial pages carry the full protocol, and biomarker pages explain what each number means.

Not medical advice. These are longevity-optimised reference ranges, which are deliberately stricter than standard clinical "normal" values. A value outside them does not mean you have a disease. Speak to a qualified healthcare professional before changing medication, supplements or training. Full disclaimer.
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What is biological age?

Chronological age counts birthdays. Biological age estimates how old your body appears to be functioning, based on measurable biomarkers. Two people born the same year can differ by a decade or more in vascular stiffness, insulin signalling or cardiorespiratory fitness. Biological age makes that gap explicit — and unlike your birthday, it can move in either direction.

How is the Longevity Score calculated?

Each biomarker you enter is scored against longevity-optimised reference ranges and grouped into one of eight dials. Every dial produces its own biological age, and those are combined using fixed weights into a single composite, then expressed as a Longevity Score from 0 to 100. The weighting reflects how strongly each system predicts healthspan: structural and vascular carry the most, hormonal the least.

Do I need all 53 biomarkers?

No. The short form contains a subset of scoring inputs plus context-only fields, and you can leave any of them blank. It is not a recommendation to obtain tests. Missing values are excluded from the calculation — never treated as zero or as 'normal'. A dial with no scored data is dropped entirely and the remaining weights renormalise.

What can I measure without a blood test?

Some inputs can be measured without bloodwork. Blood pressure needs a home cuff and waist-to-height needs a tape measure. Wearable estimates vary; the floor-based sitting-rising test carries a fall risk and should only be attempted if safe.

Is this an anti-aging calculator? Is it a healthspan calculator?

Both terms describe what this tool does, and which one fits depends on what you are asking. "Anti-aging" is the term most people search, and loosely means anything aimed at slowing or reversing age-related decline — this tool fits that description if you score your dials and act on what you find. "Healthspan calculator" is the more precise term: healthspan is the number of years lived without serious chronic disease or disability, and that cannot be measured directly, so this tool scores eight systems that each function as an early-warning proxy for it. Either way, the method is the same: real biomarkers, published thresholds, no vanity-metric framing.

Why don't you have a quick quiz that skips biomarkers entirely?

Several popular tools ask only about habits — exercise days, sleep hours, smoking, diet quality — and return a single precise-looking age. We looked at the research behind that approach and chose not to build it. Published studies do show real, individually-measured links between specific habits and epigenetic age acceleration, but those effect sizes come from different study populations, different DNA-methylation clocks and different measurement units. Adding them together into one number is not something the underlying research actually supports — it produces a precise-looking result built on an imprecise method. Our dials use direct physiological measurements instead: a real blood pressure reading, a real VO₂ max, a real ApoB value. Several dials score from home-measurable data alone with no quiz-guessing involved — see what you can measure without a blood test, above.

Why are your 'optimal' ranges stricter than my lab's normal range?

Standard reference ranges describe what is common in a general population, which now includes a great deal of metabolic dysfunction. They are tuned to flag disease, not to identify what is optimal for a long healthspan. A fasting insulin of 20 µIU/mL sits inside most labs' normal range and is strongly associated with insulin resistance. This tool uses longevity-optimised thresholds instead, so a flag here means room for optimisation — not a diagnosis.

Why not just upload my labs to ChatGPT?

For understanding a single result, do — a frontier chat model is genuinely good at that, often clearer than most medical sites, and it handles markers no fixed tool covers. The limitation is different from the one most people assume. A language model produces a plausible response rather than a computed one, so the same panel can score differently on different days. That is fine when exploring an idea and disqualifying when measuring change, because you cannot tell how much of a difference is you and how much is the method. Use both: a chat model to understand, a fixed instrument to track.

Is my health data private?

Biomarker values, assessment history and visit-preparation drafts are stored in your browser. The visit draft is separate from assessment exports and share links; copying or printing it can leave a copy outside the browser. There are no user accounts or third-party tracking. We keep anonymous usage totals on our own server, such as how many people reached a results screen on a given day; browsers sending Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control are not counted. Optional lab-report upload and AI coach features send data to Anthropic. Optional retest reminders send an email address, date and reminder label to our service and email provider. See our privacy policy for details.

Is this a medical diagnosis?

No. It is an educational and personal-tracking tool. The estimates are not clinically validated and must not replace evaluation by a qualified healthcare professional. If a result concerns you — particularly kidney markers, blood pressure or ApoB — take it to a doctor rather than acting on it alone.

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